Amid pressure on the Pentagon to address rising sexual assault reports, the Navy and Marine Corps are hanging onto Playboy and Penthouse while the Army and Air Force yank these “adult sophisticate” magazines from base stores.

The Army and Air Force cited a business case for the removal, saying that adult magazine sales have fallen 86 percent since 1998, along with declines for other kinds of printed media.

But the anti-pornography group pushing the Pentagon to get rid of racy magazines called that argument a bit of a smokescreen given the current mood in Congress.

“I can understand it as a business decision, but I don’t think this would have happened if they weren’t under pressure,” said Patrick Trueman, president of Morality in the Media in Washington, D.C. “It’s just too coincidental.”

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80% (375)

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A spokeswoman for the Navy Exchange Service Command said there’s no plan to change magazine selections. Marine Corps Exchange stores also continue to sell adult titles.

“We look to the DOD and follow guidance they have established in regard to this category,” said Navy Exchange spokeswoman Kathleen Martin.

The Pentagon reiterated its policy in a July 22 letter to Morality in the Media. It said a review board determined that Playboy and Penthouse, among others, are allowed for sale because they are not sexually explicit based on the “totality of each magazine’s content.”

Sexually explicit publications were banned from military installations under the 1996 Military Honor and Decency Act.

But U.S. military culture is in a state of flux regarding sex and propriety.

Reports of sexual assault have consistently risen in recent years, increasing from 3,192 to 3,374 in 2012, though Pentagon surveys show that incidents of unwanted sexual contact may be as high as 26,000. There’s a move afoot in Congress to strip unit commanders of their time-honored authority over these cases after examples of abuse.

All military branches have overhauled their anti-sexual assault training and have committed to solving the problem. At a recent session in San Diego, instructors told sailors that even jokes such as “that’s what she said” are no longer acceptable.

In May, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered an inspection of all Navy and Marine Corps workplaces, including base stores, to make sure they were free from “materials that create a degrading, hostile or offensive work environment.”

At Navy Exchange stores in San Diego, Playboy and similar magazines claim a fairly small section of retail real estate.

They are displayed in a special box behind the cashier, or in the top row of a large magazine wall rack. That’s to ensure children don’t get their hands on them, officials said.

Other adult titles found at San Diego Naval Base stores are Penthouse, Curves, Black Man, Skin & Ink, Flash and Smooth. Some are tattoo magazines, but the photos in them are considered revealing.

None are displayed in a way that risque cover photos are easily visible to shoppers.

It’s just a small piece of the Navy Exchange’s $2 billion in retail revenue. Adult magazines accounted for $255,000 in sales in 2012, Martin said.